Council of Councils
Think Global Health
Online Store
Invisible Armies
An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present
A complete global history of guerrilla uprisings through the ages.
- Book
- Foreign policy analyses written by CFR fellows and published by the trade presses, academic presses, or the Council on Foreign Relations Press.
Read an excerpt of Invisible Armies.
As fitting for the twenty-first century as von Clausewitz's On War was in its own time, Invisible Armies is a complete global history of guerrilla uprisings through the ages.
More on:
Beginning with the first insurgencies in the ancient world--when Alexander the Great discovered that fleet nomads were harder to defeat than massive conventional armies--Max Boot, best-selling author and military advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan, masterfully guides us from the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire up through the horrors of the French-Indochina War and the shadowy, post-9/11 battlefields of today.
Relying on a diverse cast of unforgettable characters--not only Mao and Che but also the legendary Italian nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi, the archaeologist–turned–military commander T. E. Lawrence, and the "Quiet American" Edward Lansdale, among others--Boot explodes everything we thought we knew about unconventional combat. The result is both an enthralling read and our most important work on nontraditional warfare.
A Council on Foreign Relations Book
Educators: Access the Teaching Module for Invisible Armies.
Visit the author's website, MaxBoot.net.
More on:
In the News
Max Boot on NPR's Morning EditionA CFR Book. W. W. Norton
Giving Guerrillas the BootA CFR Book. W. W. Norton
The Guerrilla MythA CFR Book. W. W. Norton